Trends: STEM Education – From Sputnik to the 22nd Century

SPUTNIK WAS SO LONG ago—more than 50 years have since lapsed—that most students in today’s schools would have no idea what it means. Try it—ask them, “What does sputnik mean?” If they say, “I don’t know,” have them make something up that’s believable. The responses would be interesting. It’s also interesting then that “STEM Education: From Sputnik to the 22nd Century” by noted futurist David Thornburg comes out in 2010 and we are still referring to the need for a “Sputnik Moment” and longing for something to spur great excitement and change in education. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics could certainly use a boost, something to launch students forward into these areas of study and work. Thornburg attempts to provide insight into the reasons inquiry-driven project-based learning is especially powerful to this end, and he is a meticulous writer, deftly framing the history and providing solutions with great care for what happens next in education. For a look at a Thornburg paper on the same thing, read this. To order your copy of the book, click here.

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[…] advocate David Thornburg has been writing about this for some time now, as you can see here on the edtech tools blog. The edtech/STEM/21st-century education sector is certainly in need of a unifying boost, however it […]

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